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WHO Guidelines on Tissue Infectivity Distribution in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

The WHO Guidelines of 2003 encouraged authorities to consider introducing precautionary measures to minimize the then-theoretical risk of transmitting vCJD by blood and blood products while not compromising an adequate supply. While acknowledging that transfusion-transmitted vCJD is no longer just a theoretical possibility, experts in the 2005 WHO Consultation again advised authorities to assess the vCJD risk in the context of their own national situations, weighing the potential benefits of adopting precautionary policies to reduce that risk against the impact that those policies might have on the supply of blood.